Things Are Never As They Seem
by chris locke
Summary: Neji already has enough problems. But when he gets a letter from Tenten professing her love and is partnered with her and Sasuke on a mission, how will things work out for him when he has to choose between his team and love? Yaoi.
1. The Note

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…"

The young ninja paced across the room, mumbling to himself. He held a note in his hand, but his fist had crumpled it into a small ball. His headband sat on the bed next to him, on top of a pile of folded clothes waiting to be put away. The metal plate with the Konoha symbol on it sparkled in the light of the ninja's bedside lamp.

He sat down on the bed and un-crumpled the note. He read it for the sixth time, then the seventh, then the eighth. Every time, he wished he could change the words to say something better. Just not this.

Downstairs, the Genin's uncle and cousins were talking over dinner. He didn't feel like joining them. The note was too important. He had to write a reply. But how?

The boy stood up, then sat back down. He looked around for a pencil or pen. A blue one sat on the bedside table, and in grabbing it he almost jammed his finger. For a moment he stopped moving and tried to calm himself. A panic attack like this was very unusual for him.

"Neji?" his younger cousin's voice yelled, "Are you gonna eat?"

Neji jumped at the voice, but called back reflexively.

"I'll be there," he said weakly, hoping they'd hear. If they didn't it was their loss.

He took a deep breath and folded the note up. Maybe if he took a few minutes to eat and organize his thoughts, he'd be able to get his mind around what it said.

Neji grabbed his forehead protector as he walked out the door of his room. He felt safer with it on, and more professional. It helped him to think clearer. He also left his hair down. It wasn't for any particular reason, but he was just too lazy to put it in its usual low ponytail. Some loose strands hung around his face as he walked down the few steps to the kitchen.

His cousin Hinata's younger sister, the one who had called him, was already done eating and had gone off somewhere. Hinata and her father were still sitting on the floor, lazily chatting as they ate. As Neji entered, they both stopped talking and looked up at him. It made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't show it as he sat down by them and got some food. It was a mild curry, as none of the Hyugas could stand any spicy food. While he was putting the rice on his plate, Hinata started talking again.

"What were you doing in your room?" she asked quietly. She only seemed to have one volume setting, and that was strain-your-ears-to-hear.

"Nothing of importance to you," Neji said immediately. He didn't need his family knowing about his problems.

But something deep inside of him wanted to tell his cousin. They weren't especially close, but she wasn't a very biased or sarcastic person, so she would be good to talk to about the note.

"Sorry…" she said, looking down at her food. Neji caught a sharp look from his uncle, but he shrugged it off and got the rest of his food. Then again, Hinata didn't know the extent of his problem, so she might ask questions that he didn't want to answer. Maybe he shouldn't tell her.

The next few minutes of the meal were silent. Hinata didn't speak again, which meant no questions, and that was fine by Neji. At least, until Hinata's younger sister appeared again.

He should have guessed it by the evil smile she had, or the fact that she was holding her hands behind her back. Maybe when she slowly started to inch towards Hinata he should have been suspicious. Instead, he was staring off into space, thinking about the note.

"Look what I found in Neji's room," the young girl whispered into her older sister's ear. Neji's head whipped around, violently breaking him from his chain of thought.

His heart started pounding as Hinata's younger sister pulled out the folded note. Hinata looked at it for a moment before unfolding it.

"No!" Neji yelled, jumping to reach for the note. In doing so, his knees knocked the table and sent all the food onto his uncle's lap. His fingers grasped at the air just inches from the letter before Hinata's younger sister pulled it away.

"Neji!" his uncle yelled furiously, standing up and brushing himself off. Neji didn't pay any attention. He was focused on getting the note.

Hinata's little sister danced away from her cousin's reaching hands. She smiled and held the note above her head.

"NEJI!"

The Genin turned his head to his uncle, who was glaring at him intensely. He shrunk back from the gaze, but couldn't escape it.

"What is the meaning of all this?" his uncle asked coldly, gesturing to the overturned table. Neji sighed and looked down. He couldn't let his uncle know.

"Neji doesn't want us to see the note," Hinata's little sister said, holding it up for her father to see.

"Hanabi, give me that."

"No! It's personal!" Neji yelled, reaching for it. His uncle got it before he did.

Neji watched helplessly as his uncle's eyes flitted over the page. As he read, he got angrier and angrier.

"This is why you felt the need to jump up and start screaming? A simple teen drama?" Hiashi threw the note down in disgust. "You're going to apologize and clean this all up, you understand? Then maybe you can start acting like a normal human being."

Neji's uncle walked out of the room. Neji stood by the table, seething. A simple teen drama? His uncle would never understand.

But Neji also felt defeated. His uncle had read the note. His note. The secret note that Neji would have dealt with privately. Now it wasn't very private any more.

"Um…can I…" Hinata mumbled, gesturing to the note. Neji looked at her for a moment.

"Do whatever you want," he said, turning and walking out the opposite door from the one his uncle had gone out of.

Hinata picked up the note and started to read. It was from Tenten. At first it seemed sort of aimless, like she had just been writing whatever she was thinking, but as Hinata got to the end her eyes widened.

The note ended with the words "I love you."


	2. The Mission

Neji walked through the streets of Konoha aimlessly, a scowl on his face. Simple teen drama. Right. Hiashi would never understand anything.

After a few minutes of walking, Neji noticed someone following him. He turned around to see Shino walking behind him, expressionless as always.

"What do you want?" Neji asked sourly.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you in her office," Shino said in his usual monotone. "Tenten and Sasuke are already there."

Neji's jaw clenched at the mention of Tenten's name. He didn't need to be reminded of the note. And what could the Hokage want?

"Fine," he said angrily, shaking his head and following Shino as they went to the Hokage's home. Neither of them spoke on the way there. Neji was playing possible scenarios in his head for when he saw Tenten. What would he say, what would he do?

The stairs to the Hokage's usual workplace took forever, and with each step Neji's anxiety grew. For a moment, he thought about activating his Byakugan to see where Tenten was.

Shino opened the door and Neji walked in. Tenten and Sasuke were talking in a corner, waiting for the other two to arrive.

The moment Neji entered the room, Tenten's eyes lit up. She smiled a bit before standing and rushing over to him. Her overjoyed smile was annoying.

"Did you get the letter?" she asked, clasping her hands in front of her chest. "Well? I sent it right to your house and addressed it to you, so you must have gotten it! Did anyone else read it? That would have been horrible…so, did you read it?"

Neji pushed Tenten away. "Yes, I got the note."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. A note? From Tenten?

"Well? What do you say? It was really hard to write, but I just had to tell you!"

"I don't…know…" Neji said slowly, watching as Tenten's face fell.

"You don't know? Are you still thinking about it?"

Neji nodded. All he was doing was buying himself time. But now was not the place to tell Tenten that he didn't share her feelings. They needed to be alone before he could say anything.

"Ahem," Tsunade said, tapping her finger on her desk. It was filled with messily placed papers and books.

"Sorry," Tenten said, backing away from Neji and turning to the Hokage. She put on a smile again, and the other three Genin all lined up next to her.

"I've chosen you all specifically for a mission. It's in a small village in the Land of Waves."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment. The Land of Waves held some memories for him. What could the mission be this time?

"They have been buying supplies for a building project they have been working on from a nearby town, but lately have gotten behind on their payments for the supplies. There have been rumors that in order to get the money, ninjas have been sent after the carriers in order to get it faster. As the village wishes to remain free of any confrontations, they have requested that we send a few ninjas to escort the money carriers. It should be simple enough. Got it?"

"Why are there four of us?" Tenten asked.

"It's what they requested, and we're getting good money for this mission. I don't know either."

Tenten nodded in understanding. She quickly glanced at Neji, who looked down.

"You should start in the morning, and I'll give you a map then. If you have any questions, I'll answer them later. It's getting late, so get some sleep."

That was the dismissal. The four Genin left at once, but Tenten followed Neji out. As they walked down the street, she stayed about five feet behind him. He tried not to get annoyed, but that was hard to do.

As Neji walked into his house, Tenten stopped and waved. Neji gave her a little wave back, then continued into the house. He was happy to get away from her.

Inside, however, was no better.

"Neji…be careful…father is angry." Hinata said, as Neji walked past her. She was standing in the first hallway, like she had been planning to warn him.

He nodded and sucked in a deep breath, preparing for the onslaught of anger. Neji hadn't cleaned up the mess he had made, like his uncle had told him to.

The air was heavy as he walked into the kitchen. His uncle was standing there, a look of contempt on his face.

"Where have you been?" he asked tersely.

"The Hokage called me in for a mission. I had to go."

"Well, then, you have some cleaning to do before your mission. I want this all cleaned up before you leave. If it's not, I'll make sure you don't go on that mission."

Neji nodded, watching his uncle leave. Then he turned his attention to the mess by the table. There was rice everywhere, and the curry had spilled all over everything.

Hinata came in, looking down. Silently, she got out a mop and bucket, and filled the bucket with water. Neji watched her as she sat down on the floor and started to pick up rice.

"It's a big mess…and I thought you might want some help…"

Neji nodded, watching Hinata clean. Then, he smiled a bit and started to help her pick up the rice. She smiled back, timidly, and the two cleaned until the food was gone.


	3. The Accident

The sun started to peak in the Konoha sky, sending rays of light down on the four Genin walking the path leading out of the village. Tenten was in the front, holding an old and worn map, and Neji took the back. He had purposely distanced himself from the girl, because if he didn't she'd never leave him alone.

Shino was silent for most of the walk, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the path ahead. At least, that's where one had to assume his eyes were, because no one could see them behind his glasses.

"So, why do you think these people wanted four of us?" Tenten asked conversationally, turning her head to the ninja behind her. Neji shrugged, Shino didn't respond and Sasuke shook his head as if to say 'I dunno.'

That was the attitude that Sasuke had had the entire way; he was silent and unemotional. He didn't seem to be very involved in the routine mission.

"Hmm…maybe they're just worried, or they don't have much experience with ninja so they think they need more than they do," Tenten said, looking up. Only a few clouds dotted an unusually clear sky.

Neji shrugged again. He didn't really care. All he wanted to do was get this easy mission over with.

Suddenly, the wind started to pick up. At first it was a slight breeze, but a quick gust of wind flooded the trees. The wind blew Neji's hair out to his side, and he put it over his shoulder to avoid the annoyance. Tenten blinked a few times, as though the wind had blown something in her eye. She let go of one side of the map to rub her eye.

The wind easily ripped the old paper, and three-quarters of the map started to fly away. Tenten started to run after it, but Neji and Sasuke were already on it.

"I got it," they said in unison, starting to run towards the paper. Neji ran to catch it in its flight, and Sasuke jumped into the trees to grab it as it flew by. Silently, it had become a race between the two of them for the map.

Neji ran after the paper, changing direction each time the paper stalled or started going somewhere else. Sasuke dashed through the trees, judging the map's flight path and waiting at the tree where it was most likely going to go.

Neji reached out his hand, dodging a tree as he carefully started to grasp the map. His fingers closed. The map wasn't there.

Sasuke waited for the map on a branch about ten feet above the ground. As he waited, he scanned the trees for it, and for Neji. He had to get the map first. He didn't know why, but he just wanted to.

Neji's hand grabbed at air, and from the corner of his eye he saw the map flying in the other direction. The wind had changed directions again, and now the map was flying back towards the path where Tenten had lost it.

Sasuke looked through the forest. The map hadn't flown by yet. Either it had gotten stuck on a tree, or it had changed direction. He decided on the latter.

Neji slid across the ground as he turned to catch the map. He started to gain on it, as the wind was slowing down.

Sasuke leaped from his spot in the tree to look for the map. Suddenly, he saw it, flipping and turning as it blew through the trees, back in the direction of the path. He started after it, running from tree branch to branch.

Neji dashed after the map, jumping to reach it. His fingers touched it, but didn't close on it.

Sasuke locked onto the map and launched himself out of the trees to grab it.

Neji reached for the map again.

Sasuke's hand grabbed an inch away from the paper.

Neji's hand missed the map by almost nothing.

Sasuke fell.

On top of Neji.

The dark-haired Genin set his hands down to catch himself, but on the sight of Neji he was caught off guard. Neji only had a second to react to the boy suddenly falling from the sky onto him. He looked up, and Sasuke was on top of him.

"What the—" Sasuke started to say.

Neji fell backwards under Sasuke's weight. He spread his hands out to the sides to catch himself, but he still hit the ground hard. Sasuke didn't want to knee Neji in the gut, so he made sure his knees landed to either side of the long-haired Genin.

Neji started in shock at Sasuke. For a moment neither of them moved. Sasuke was straddling Neji, in the middle of a forest. It seemed so wrong.

The two ninja stared at each other for a while, under an uncomfortable silence. Nothing in the forest seemed to move.

Sasuke's eyes were dark as usual, but as Neji stared at them they started to glow. They were so deep and soulful. For a moment, Neji could understand why all the girls liked Sasuke so much.

Suddenly, he got up. Without warning, he pushed Sasuke up and off of him, starting back for the path. Sasuke stared after him in surprise.

As he walked away, Neji balled his fists in anger. Not at Sasuke, but at himself. Sasuke was a guy. Neji was a guy. That didn't work. There hadn't been anything going on there. It was just an accident. It could have happened to anyone.

Then how come he had liked it?


End file.
